Metro Washington Council afl-cio

Saying they hope the decision “will become a catalyst for change,” the Washington Teachers Union has won an important victory in its fight against the D.C. Public Schools’ teacher evaluation system. An arbitrator ruled Monday that the school system had to re-hire a teacher who filed a grievance claiming he was wrongly fired under its controversial “IMPACT” teacher evaluation system (The teacher, Thomas O’Rourke, will be on “Your Rights at Work” on WPFW 89.3FM today at 1p). In the 2015-2016 academic year alone, more than 100 grievances involving the system have been filed and this is the first one the union has won, according to Liz Davis, the head of the Washington Teachers Union. “We’re hoping this decision will get the school district and policymakers to rethink” the evaluation system’s effectiveness.- based on a report in The Washington Post; click here for the AFT/WTU press release